How to Astral Project - The Importance of Micro-Sleep

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One of the most common issues that I am contacted with revolves around an inability to push their astral projection practice any further. Questions that I receive typically sound something like this:

"I have been lying here for over an hour. I am remaining completely still, but nothing is happening. What do I do?"

or

"I am starting to make progress, and I can feel my body starting to fall asleep, but the process won't go any further. What am I doing wrong?"

or

"I am feeling tingling in my limbs and torso, but I just can't get it to evolve into the vibrational state. What do I do next?"

The answer to all of these questions is the same. Relaxation.

This may sound absurd to many of you, especially if you have been laying there for hours on end, you may say, "I am as relaxed as it is physically possible for me to be".  What you have to remember here is that you are not trying to reach a level of relaxation typical to waking life. What you are attempting to do is reach a level of relaxation that is usually only possible through sleep. This bring me to the topic of micro-sleep or micro-blackouts as I have referred to them in the past. Micro-sleep is the action of dipping quickly into sleep and immediately emerging into wakefulness again through a strong intent. This is something that everyone has done at one point or another in their life unconsciously.

Think of a time when you were very tired, but had an upcoming engagement. Maybe you had agreed to meet a friend, maybe it was a job interview, maybe it was picking up a child from daycare. As you think of a time when you were very tired, but had an upcoming engagement. Maybe you had agreed to meet a friend, maybe it was a job interview, maybe it was picking up a child from daycare. As you closed your eyes to get just a few minutes of sleep before heading out, you may have found yourself waking spontaneously over and over panicking, looking at your clock, thinking you may have missed your alarm. This is your mental intent pulling you back out of sleep. If you have experienced this, it is proof that you are capable of this skill and once you have honed your abilities, you will be able to use it to assist your projection practice.

It took me about 6 months of trial and error to develop this skill, so hopefully you will be able to learn from my mistakes and accomplish this task with less effort. Over the months, I spent my hour-long lunch breaks laying down in the back of my van, where I would set my alarm to go off every 15 minutes just in case I did not successfully return from sleep. This would guarantee at least 4 attempts per session. I would then lay there, letting myself drift as close as possible to sleep while maintaining an intent that I would pull myself back out as soon as I slipped under.

When I was successful, I would repeat the process. When I failed, my alarm would wake me up after 15 minutes and I would try again. As I started to get the hang of this procedure, I noticed something interesting. I noticed that after 3 or 4 dips into sleep, it was only my mind that would return to wakefulness, leaving my body in a deep state of sleep. I noticed that muscle groups that I was not even aware of would start to disengage. I could feel the weight of my rib cage on my lungs, my eyes and ears would shut off and it was like my focus was forced inward. There have been occasions where I would return to wakefulness and hear myself snoring as though I was a third party listening to someone else sleep. From here, the process will evolve on its own and if there is ever a point where you feel like progress has slowed or stopped, return to dipping in and out of sleep until progress resumes.

From what I have learned, I would recommend the following steps to practice and develop this skill:

1. Select a place other than your bed to practice. This can be a recliner, a couch, the floor, a yoga mat, etc. Your body and mind associate your bed with sleep, so selecting a place you don't normally sleep will make it easier to keep from sleeping too deeply.
2. When selecting a place, choose a spot that is not too comfortable. This will help you maintain control over your state of consciousness.
3. Lay in a position that is not your natural sleeping position. Again, this will help you maintain control over your state of consciousness and slow down the transition into sleep.
4. Let yourself relax and monitor your state as you approach sleep. Evaluate your state of mind and awareness repeatedly as you get closer and keep a strong intent to wake back up if you dip under. 

Set an alarm if you like as I did during your practice sessions in case you don't make it back out.

Mastering this skill will drastically increase the effectiveness of your direct attempts to induce an astral projection.

Good luck!